Walking at the Foot of a Glacier

Reaching the base of these magnificent glaciers Alaska has to offer, it is easy to finally understand your ecological footprint. The ice seems limitless. Rivers emerge, rushing from the melting ice, a source of fresh water sustaining humanity since the dawn or time. It is humbling to feel such a life force trembling beneath your feet. Until you turn around. It is blatantly obvious where the glaciers once touched and any native of Alaska can tell you where the base of these glaciers were just a few years ago.

It is nauseating. The drive to Alaska contributed to this, though a plane flight would have been worse. The drive to Alaska, taken while an incompetent oil company grapples with how to plug the major oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. You wonder what would have been worse, the destruction of the Gulf ecosystem or refining that oil so it could be pumped into our cars to help speed the demise of these glaciers, the Alaskan ecosystem.

So maybe it isn't easy to understand your ecological footprint. The drive here was destructive but eye opening better than any newspaper article ever could be. Would it be better for the planet if everyone took the drive and had the eyes opened to the need for drastic changes? How many would realize it or even care? Humans need to travel, to connect. When will we end our dependence on fossil fuels? When will the US Government and its people stop dragging their feet to enact real, drastic sweeping changes? I want to live, I want to travel, I want to connect, I want to experience this world. Will doing so always require a Faustian deal with the devil?